1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method, device, and computer readable storage medium for implementing a wagering game wherein a player can place numerous bets on independent events with distinct random distributions/variances.
2. Description of the Related Art
In nearly all wagering games, a single random element is used to select the outcome of the game. In the game of casino craps, a pair of dice is thrown which yields an outcome between two and twelve. In the game of American roulette, a ball is dropped into a spinning wheel which comes to rest in one of thirty-eight numbered cups. In the game of blackjack, one or more standard decks of playing cards are shuffled and cards are dealt according to a fixed set of rules. In slot machines, a pseudo-random number generator produces a set of reel strip indices which instruct the slot machine to display a particular set of symbols. In keno, a pseudo-random number generator produces twenty random numbers from the list 1 . . . 80 to form the game outcome.
In craps, the random event is the throw of the dice. In roulette, the random event is the ball dropping into the cup. In blackjack, the random event is the shuffle of the cards. In slot machines, the random event is the generation of the reel strip indices. In keno, the random event is the generation of the twenty numbers. All of these random events are singular in nature; only one random event is required to generate an outcome for craps, roulette, blackjack, slot machines, or keno. In fact, in the case of blackjack or certain other card games, a single random event (the shuffle) is actually used to determine the outcome of multiple consecutive games.
The only known instance involving wagering on the outcome of more than one random event is in the field of sports wagering, on a bet known as a parlay or parlay card. Such a wager involves picking the winners of several independent games and winning an increased amount if correct. When betting on football, for example, a parlay card bettor may select five different games. If the bettor correctly guesses the winning outcome for all five games, his parlay card is a winner. If not, the bettor loses his wager.
Parlay cards have several disadvantages. They are an all-or-nothing wager, much like betting on the extreme longshot to win a horserace. In addition, the house advantage for a parlay card is extremely high, usually in excess of 25%. This is worse than any wager available on a table game or slot machine. The benefits of a parlay card, however, are that a bettor may win a large amount of money with only a small initial outlay, and the bettor can selectively alter his probability of winning (and thereby the mathematical variance of the wager) by varying the components of the parlay card.
Being able to alter the variance (expected range of outcomes) of a bet is an important feature for many gamblers. A game with high variance will have a higher probability of very high awards (e.g. a slot machine) while a game with low variance will have a high probability of lower awards (e.g. blackjack). The majority of casino wagers have a fixed variance, which means a casino patron wishing to alter the mathematical distribution of his or her next wager must relocate to another game. This presents a major disadvantage for slot machine patrons in particular: players desiring a game with more frequent, smaller awards rather than less frequent, larger awards must cash out of their existing machine, find a different machine to play, and deposit new fund prior to the continuation of play.
There are some exceptions: it is noted that the ability to alter the winning probability of a game is not unique to parlay cards. For example, in roulette the player can alter the probability of winning by wagering on more than one inside (individual) number. A disadvantage of roulette in this regard is the dependent and conflicting nature between any two inside number wagers. If one wager wins, the other wager must necessarily lose. These wagers are not independent since it is impossible for both to win simultaneously. A further disadvantage of roulette in this regard is that each wager covering the same number of spots on the wheel has an identical variance.
No casino table game or slot game provides the bettor with a method to wager on multiple independent outcomes featuring a plurality of variances and to therefore directly affect his or her overall wager variance through bet selection.
Therefore, what is needed is a way to provide players with a way to bet on multiple independent outcomes simultaneously.